Poll

Is the Packers' defense good enough to win another championship?

Minneapolis - Under the Teflon roof of the antiseptic Metrodome and in a season of unprecedented passing, mashing people still can win a football game.

Aaron Rodgers continued to dazzle and amaze Sunday, but when it came down to settling accounts it was the 24th-ranked ground game of the Green Bay Packers that carried the day over the Minnesota Vikings, 33-27.

For three hours the highly motivated players and full-throated fans in both green and purple took turns taking it to each other at a fever pitch. The 100th regular-season renewal of the border series, projected as a rout for Green Bay by oddsmakers, came down to the bitter end.

When the fourth quarter dawned, not only were the Packers comfortably ahead at 33-17, but the Vikings appeared to have done about as much as could have been expected with rookie quarterback Christian Ponder making his first start and without three starters in the secondary.

At that point, the Packers had scored on their previous six possessions, and seven of eight overall. In short, they looked unstoppable.

"I thought it was over," linebacker Desmond Bishop said. "Then they got a couple plays and we were in a fight."

The incomparable Adrian Peterson ripped off a 54-yard run to set up a field goal. Then, after the Packers shockingly went three and out, Ponder made three terrific plays on third and long and capped a 93-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown strike to Michael Jenkins.

"They had a lot of motion for (Ponder), and he played pretty good," said defensive end Ryan Pickett. "Then at the end he started converting on third down and I was, like, 'Are you serious?' "

It got even more serious for the Packers when Rodgers misfired on another third-and-long pass to Greg Jennings.

So the Packers had fourth and 6 from their 34. Just 5½ minutes remained and it was a 6-point game.

"I was kind of scared," nose tackle B.J. Raji said. "I was nervous, to be honest with you."

Mike Priefer, the Vikings' special teams coach, went for the block on Tim Masthay, and defensive end Everson Griffen came inches away from getting it. Not only did Masthay do well to get the ball off, he watched as his punt hit near the 20 and rolled all the way to the Vikings 2 for 64 yards in all.

"I felt the pressure and I kind of pulled the ball inside a little bit," said Masthay. "It was a huge play in the game."

Ponder converted two more third downs with clutch throws, but going 90-plus yards twice in a row was a little too much to expect. From the Minnesota 36 on fourth and 10, coach Leslie Frazier made the decision to punt with 2½ minutes remaining.

"In that situation, I really believed we could go out and stop them from running the football," Frazier said. "I don't know what they had rushing up to that point, but there was nothing they had shown me that they could run the football as well as they did in that 4-minute situation."

Ryan Grant (9-29), James Starks (7-20) and John Kuhn (1-1) were a combined 17 for 50 (2.9) rushing in the first 57½ minutes. With three timeouts left and the 2-minute warning still to come, Frazier made the percentage call figuring Ponder would have one more chance to send Minnesotans out into the night delirious with joy.

Mike McCarthy responded by sending out an I formation with double tight ends. The Vikings massed eight, sometimes nine defenders in the box.

In this situation, the average National Football League defense probably will force a three-and-out about 75% of the time.

"Our run game, after the first quarter, was pretty inconsistent," said guard Josh Sitton. "Probably not even there."

On the first play, Starks followed Kuhn's lead block off the right side against a run blitz featuring linebackers E.J. Henderson and Chad Greenway in the A gaps. Sitton occupied Greenway, tackle Bryan Bulaga blocked down on Henderson and Starks powered for 15 yards.

That was stunning enough, but there was more to come.

After Jermichael Finley's false-start penalty, Starks gained 4 to the right and the Vikings used their second timeout. From shotgun formation, Starks ran an inside zone play and broke out to the weak side underneath defensive end Brian Robison.

Starks made strong safety Tyrell Johnson miss in the open field, then bulled ahead for 20 yards.

"He's a tough kid," Bulaga said, referring to Starks. "He runs hard and he loves the game. That's just a fact."

Frazier had to expend his third timeout, but still the Vikings had hope because the 2-minute stoppage still was to come.

Two more carries by Starks set up third and 7. Running for the sixth play in a row, Starks cut back off left tackle, made cornerback Asher Allen miss and secured the first down with 6 yards to spare. In those six carries, he had gained 55 yards against a run defense that ruled the NFL for the last five years and still ranked fourth entering the weekend.

"As an offensive line, that's the ultimate goal," said guard T.J. Lang. "End the game running it and then take a knee. Everybody has a guy to block. You have to earn it."

So the Packers are 7-0 for the first time since 1962 and the Vikings are 1-6 for the first time since 1990. Minnesota's 10-1 start in 2009 with Brett Favre seems like an eternity ago.

"It's an excellent victory," said McCarthy, now 4-2 in the dome and 8-3 overall against Minnesota. "It always means more and we always appreciate it more when it's as hard as it was today. That's the way you want to finish games."

Frazier and his defensive coordinator, Fred Pagac, did what they could without cornerbacks Antoine Winfield (neck), Chris Cook (arrested) and safety Jamarca Sanford (concussion).

Safeties Tyrell Johnson and Husain Abdullah played deep almost the entire way. Cornerbacks Cedric Griffin and Allen, as well as nickel back Marcus Sherels, played well off receivers.

"They didn't want them to get exposed," said Finley. "They played real soft. The linebackers played 8 yards off the ball."

For Rodgers, it was almost like child's play. With Bulaga eliminating the hard-charging Robison as a pass-rushing threat, Jared Allen was the one defender standing between Rodgers and complete domination of the Minnesota defense. Allen had a phenomenal game.

Rodgers' passer rating was a perfect 158.3 in both the first and third quarters. He finished at 146.5, the second best mark of his career.

"He's putting together an unbelievable year," Frazier said. "He's really developed over the past few years."

Once again, however, the defense rested. Peterson blasted for 175 yards in merely 24 attempts, and offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave found enough ways to get Ponder moving so he could pass for 219.

Dom Capers' defense is allowing 391 yards and 20.1 points per game through seven weeks compared with 309.1 and 15 in the regular season a year ago.

"Our stats aren't where they were, but last year we were, like, 3-4 (actually 4-3) now," said Raji. "Now we're undefeated and our stats are reversed. I just think great teams find a way to win."

Championship teams have the capacity to beat the opponent every way possible. Playing power football isn't the Packer Way, but when push came to shove Sunday the Packers did precisely that.

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